and there is fire in your eyes
by thefrostedrose
Summary: eva/cora backstory in the format of free-verse poetry:: because after all, it wasn't rumplestiltskin who taught you how to crush hearts .


**Thud**

Pause .

((Breathe in))

_**Crash**_

((Breathe out))

"She ruined my slippers!"

You're not particularly surprised;

just a stereotypical **royal**

(_**powerhungry**_&pretentious&_capricious_)

your eyes lift to hers - so filled with contempt and inflated self-image

You sneer back, watch the _little princess_ falter

"I beg your pardon, Princess Eva."

* * *

You go to the ball in that _gorgeous_ **red** gown;

**fIrE**&_danger_&_aforcetobereckonwith_ -

never again will they put you down

(_the poor, poor Miller's daughter_)

but even after you've been found out,

her eyes still _**bLaZe**_ back at yours

_oh, the servant girl has come to play dress up!_

and as the cruel smirk spreads back over her pale pink lips

you vow to make her _**pay**_

* * *

So you win the _**challenge**_ King Xavier gives you -

_(with a little help from a certain man named Rumpelstiltskin)_

and you get Prince Henry's hand in marriage

who _darling_ **Eva** was brought to specifically court

and even better yet,

_**you will no longer be the miller's daughter . **_

And on your wedding day -

_the miller's daughter is marrying the prince!_

you look at her again.

you expect to se

(_sorrow_&_**guilt**_&embarrassment)

but instead you see _this_:

**fIrE** locked behind a _shee_t of ice the color of the s_e_a

and something doesn't sit particularly right in your stomach at that .

* * *

_**Princess Cora**_

_(it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?)_

not as nice as **Queen** Cora, but it's a work in progress

and with being a royal comes responsibility

_i.e. royal visits to the north_

to see Princess Eva

you know they call her_ the fairest of them all_

and up close, he now, you almost agree

lips red as blood

hair **black** as _**ebony**_

skin white as_ snow_

And you try to fill your smirk with as much repugnance as possible

you falter, _slightly_

she still notices

and she _**grins**_

* * *

"You know, Cora means 'heart'." She says with a biting smile

you almost laugh

**((oh, the irony))**

and you hate all these days spent in the north because you have no power here

everything is the king and most importantly Eva

_Eva Eva Eva Eva Eva Eva Eva Eva Eva_

you don't know why the name gets _under your skin_ so much

you tell yourself over and over again that you've bested her

_(you're the one who is going to be Queen!)_

but it still feels like you've accomplished

and there's also this strong urge to go home, but at the same time to _stay_

* * *

and then one night:

she's standing so **close** to you

you can feel your blood bOiLiNg in your veins

you should be thinking about your husband _(no more than a puppet, really)_ but you're not

and then -

her breath washes over your face

and she says those _dreadful_, **unforgettable **words

your whole body freezes

part of you wants to _**SCREAM -**_

you kiss her instead .

* * *

you learn more about her

she likes daisies

she rides horses

her mother died young, leaving her victim to an emotionless father

she's sweet, too

**(compassionate)**

_(but oh no, that kind of personality does not work in a court so powerful as her own)_

you were the pauper trying to be princess

she was the royal hiding her true self

_her kisses taste like summer berries_

and when you leave,

you're **sortofkindofmaybe **_**in love with her**_

* * *

you hear of her marriage to Prince _Leopold_

and part of your heart pangs a little

_(what, did you expect her to wait around for you?)_

and that's when everything goes to **h e l l**

* * *

There's a bloody war that Leopold's father issued on your land before he died

_swords_&carnage&**death**

and you lose

and suddenly it's **King** Leopold and _Queen_ Eva

you beg and plead with her to let you _(and your husband, of course)_ keep your kingdom

and you are certainly not one to beg .

_"There's nothing I can do." _She says cooly, not meeting your eyes

**oh, but there is,** you think bitterly, darkly, _dangerously_

but nevertheless you stay a member of the aristocracy

just without the crown, and most importantly:

_**the title**_

* * *

She has destroyed your life

e. v. e. r. y. t. h. i. n. g. you've worked for

with one sleight of hand

your hands _clench_ and **unclench**

you can't stop pacing

you will not be lower than _her_

_oh no_, you will not be so subservient again

maybe you've lost your shot a queen

but your _legacy_ -

yes, you will make Eva pay for what she's done

and you can argue that it wasn't Eva's fault, it's true

but somewhere, (admittedly), your feelings got involved

you thought she **loved **you

and now **poof! **everything you had is long forgotten, frozen

because after all,

_it wasn't rumplestiltskin who taught you how to crush hearts . _

* * *

_**"You know, you're still just the miller's daughter"**_


End file.
